Back in 2019 when the Tata Harrier first launched, having a diesel only wasn’t a major issue, however with the continuous negativity around oil burners, petrol engines are today an important powertrain to offer, and across segments too. Moreover, buyers are increasingly wanting performance and refinement and are willing to pay for it, via higher fuel bills.
Tata says around 30 percent of sales in the high-SUV segment that the Harrier and Safari compete in, now come from petrol-powered vehicles, and so naturally it wants a piece of that action. To this end, the Harrier now gets Tata’s new 1.5-litre Hyperion turbo-petrol engine, which recently debuted on the Sierra. Does this motor continue to impress in a larger SUV? We drove it around Delhi to find out.
Tata Harrier petrol: exterior design and engineering – 9/10
No exterior changes to distinguish the petrol, but the overall design still looks fresh.
Harrier petrol Fearless Ultra variant gets 18-inch alloys; top-spec Fearless Ultra Red Black gets 19-inchers.
Apart from the new Crimson Nitro colour of our test car, there really isn’t anything to tell the petrol Harrier apart from the diesel. However, the facelift it received back in 2023 is still managing to keep the Harrier looking fresh. Up front, the large grille has some neat detailing, and the slim, connected light bar avoids the “tubelight” look that some others sport.
Front and rear cameras now get a useful washer.
Wheel designs are the same too – our Fearless Ultra rode on 18-inch black alloys, while the top-spec Fearless Ultra Red Black upgrades to 19-inchers. Round the back, it’s business as usual, with not even a different badge identifying it as the petrol. It still looks sharp with full-width LED taillamps and neat Harrier script. Overall, the design is still looks handsome, if a bit familiar, but Tata could have done a little more to set it apart from the diesel and EV.
Tata Harrier petrol: interior space and comfort – 9/10
The interior is roomy and comfortable, but some ergonomic quirks persist.
Lighter theme used inside compared to the Harrier diesel.
Just like the exterior, the interior carries over the diesel’s design but ditches the dark ambience for the lighter theme first seen on the diesel Safari. The upper portion of the dash and door cards are finished in dark brown, while the rest is trimmed in Oyster white. Faux wood with silver pinstriping and plenty of piano black plastic also feature, giving the cabin a premium look.
The rest of the cabin is largely the same, but this also means there are some inconsistencies in fit and finish and the earlier ergonomic quirks persist. For instance, the wireless charger, tucked away behind the rotary terrain mode selector, is hard to access, and the digital driver’s display, which is reasonably large at 10.25 inches, is set far into the dash, making it hard to read the small fonts. Additionally, the touch-based controls for the HVAC system and other functions like the hazard lights and door locks are small and fiddly to use on the move. The side of the driver’s knee also frequently makes contact with the centre console, particularly on bad roads.
Centre console’s edge frequently makes contact with driver’s knee over bad roads.
Despite these niggles, overall comfort is quite good. The driver sits high with a commanding view of the road on a seat that is wide and comfortable. A criticism is that the seat squab is a little short, but this will only cause discomfort for taller folks. The rear seat is comfortable, with a wide, supportive bench and plenty of room all around. Winged headrests up the comfort quotient for the outer two passengers, but as before, the centre passenger has to do without a headrest altogether. Boot space, at 445 litres, is unchanged from the diesel.
Tata Harrier petrol: features and safety – 9/10
Borrows some tech from the Harrier EV to bolster an already packed feature list.
14.53-inch screen is from the Harrier EV.
In its petrol avatar, the Harrier has gained a few features from the Harrier EV. The most significant is the 14.53-inch Samsung Neo QLED infotainment screen, which looks and feels great with sharp resolution, bright colours and snappy response. It also brings a host of apps and the ability to stream movies and other content when parked. Adding to the experience is the 10-speaker JBL sound system with Dolby Atmos, which sounds superb.
A useful addition is the digital rear-view mirror that shows a clear feed from the roof-mounted camera, which, along with the front camera, doubles up as a built-in dash cam. It does have its quirks, though. To reduce glare, it needs to be adjusted upwards so it no longer reflects the rear windshield, and this compromises the front dash cam’s angle. The wide array of cameras also enables a 360-degree view, but the resolution isn’t sharp. What will help during the monsoons, though, is a new front and rear camera washers.
Features list on higher-spec Fearless Ultra includes ventilated front seats.
There are other niceties too, like the powered driver’s seat with a memory function, which now also remembers your ORVM position. Speaking of which, the outside mirrors now angle down when reverse is selected, but they occasionally fail to return to their original position after shifting to drive. Apart from these new additions, the Harrier remains just as well equipped as its diesel and electric counterparts. The 10.25-inch driver’s display has a few neat tricks, like blind-spot monitor view and the ability to show full-screen Google Maps. Ventilated front seats, a cooled centre console, a massive panoramic sunroof, customisable ambient lighting, voice assistance and rear sun blinds mean the feature list goes on.
JBL speaker setup shared with top-spec diesel variants.
Safety kit is equally comprehensive, with six airbags, ABS with EBD and ESP standard from the base Smart trim. The Adventure X+ adds ADAS with adaptive cruise control and quad disc brakes, while the Fearless X+ upgrades to Level 2 ADAS and seven airbags. Throughout our drive, the ADAS worked well, steering neatly between the lane markings without any unwanted interventions. Like the diesel, the Harrier petrol has also scored a full five-star crash safety rating from Bharat NCAP.
Tata Harrier petrol performance and refinement – 8/10
The Hyperion turbo-petrol delivers surprisingly strong performance for its size.
Harrier petrol’s 1.5-litre turbocharged unit makes 10hp more than in the Sierra.
Under the hood is the Hyperion 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine that debuted on the Sierra, but Tata has tuned it specifically for this application. Power figures reflect this, with 170hp at 5,000rpm and 280Nm from 1,750 to 3,500rpm – 10hp and 25Nm more than the Sierra. Crucially, Tata has profiled the power and torque curves to account Harrier’s heavier weight and the engine here makes a healthy 160Nm at a low 1,000rpm. Doubters might still say that a 1.5-litre engine in a large SUV is inadequate, but in practice it is anything but.
For a petrol, the engine only revs to a low 5,000rpm and it doesn’t have the mid-range turbo punch or the top-end some other turbocharged engines deliver, but it certainly isn’t lacking in performance. The engine has a strong bottom end and helps the Harrier pick up speed effortlessly. Turbo lag is minimal and power delivery is linear. We conducted a preliminary instrumented test (not to Autocar India standards) on the petrol Safari, which resulted in an impressive 0-100kph time of 10.5 seconds; a lighter Harrier should be a couple of tenths quicker still. Throttle response is good too, although the difference between the three drive modes is very subtle. If you wish to tackle light offroad trails, there are also three terrain modes to help it find traction.
Harrier petrol picks up speed effortlessly; 6-speed AT is well-matched to the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol.
The engine can be paired with either a 6-speed manual or an Aisin-sourced 6-speed torque-converter automatic, and the latter would be our pick. The automatic’s ratios are well matched to the engine and it does a good job of keeping it on the boil. Shifts are smooth and seamless, and you rarely feel the need to reach for the paddle shifters. Speaking of which, using the paddles automatically switches the drive mode to Sport, though it takes longer than expected to revert to Auto mode.
The engine is smooth with barely any vibrations across the rev range. A gripe, though, is that the engine is a bit too audible and can be heard from as low as 1,500rpm; it never sounds coarse or unrefined, but it’s not something you’d want in a petrol. Braking performance is strong thanks to discs at all four corners.
Tata Harrier petrol: fuel efficiency – 7/10
Tata claims best-in-class fuel efficiency, but official figures are yet to be revealed.
Tata has yet to reveal the claimed fuel efficiency figures for the Harrier petrol, and our short test didn’t allow us to measure it independently. Tata does claim best-in-class efficiency and has even set an India Book of Records-certified figure of 25.9kpl in controlled conditions; however, this is far from representative of real-world usage. Oddly though throughout our testing, the average fuel efficiency readout didn’t budge from 8.0kpl. We will subject it to a full road test soon to find the true fuel efficiency.
Tata Harrier petrol: ride comfort and handling – 8/10
Superb ride quality and stability remain, with the petrol’s lighter kerb weight only helping matters.
High-speed ride and handling is a highlight of the Harrier petrol, like its diesel counterpart.
In true Tata fashion, the Harrier petrol rides superbly – just like the diesel. The platform shows its Land Rover roots with a reassuring sense of robustness over rough surfaces. There is an underlying firmness when crawling through broken tarmac, but at no point does it become uncomfortable and on the highway it really comes into its own. Damping is excellent, as is body control, and the Harrier makes for a superb long-distance cruiser. Out on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, it felt rock solid at triple-digit speeds, holding its line through high-speed bends.
Like for like, the petrol Harrier is claimed to be 80kg lighter than the diesel which should also help it feel more agile on tighter, twistier roads, though we didn’t encounter any on this drive. When pushed through some turns at a moderate pace, body roll was well contained, and the 235-section tyres provided good grip. The calibration of the electric steering system is also excellent – feeling light enough helping it mask this SUV’s size at slow speeds, and weighing up progressively, while providing confidence at high-speeds.
Tata Harrier petrol: price and verdict – 8/10
Strong petrol power broadens the Harrier’s appeal without compromising its core strengths.
Pricing for the petrol-powered Harrier has not been announced at the time of writing. The petrol line-up spans eight variants, starting with the base Smart trim, while the top-spec Fearless Ultra and Fearless Ultra Red Dark are new additions over and above the diesel range, where the Fearless+ sits at the top. We expect the petrol Harrier to be around Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 cheaper than the diesel ranging from around Rs 13 lakh to Rs 24.5 lakh.
As a package, the Harrier petrol is very well rounded. Its core strengths – strong street presence, an excellent ride and a roomy, feature-packed cabin – remain intact, and the petrol powertrain now broadens its appeal. The engine really exceeds expectations, delivering performance far better than its cubic capacity suggests, and finally bringing a level of refinement the diesel never could. There are still some ergonomic and software quirks to contend with, but they don’t detract significantly from the overall experience. For large SUV buyers whose running isn’t high enough to justify a diesel, the petrol-powered Harrier makes a compelling case.
